'JAPAN' in Korean Taekwondo Performance... Bizarre Mistake on UK Audition Program

Famous Audition Program 'Britain's Got Talent'
Recently, Jeonju University 'Ssaulabi' Demonstration Team Advances to Semifinals
'JAPAN' in SNS Introduction of the Team

The globally renowned audition program, Britain's Got Talent, has sparked controversy by posting a video of a Korean Taekwondo performance on its official social media account, introducing it as a 'Japan' team. Moreover, despite a flood of correction requests from netizens both domestically and internationally, the account has not corrected the error, escalating the controversy.

The Taekwondo demonstration team from Jeonju University, 'Ssaulabi,' recently participated in the audition program and received the Golden Buzzer, advancing to the semifinals. While the World Taekwondo Federation demonstration team has previously participated in the same audition program in the United States and France and received the Golden Buzzer, this is the first time a single university's Taekwondo demonstration team has received the Golden Buzzer on an overseas audition program.

A demonstration performance by Jeonju University Taekwondo Demonstration Team 'Ssaulabi' posted on the 'Got Talent Global' account. The description includes the phrase 'Ssaulabi from Japan.' [Image source: Screenshot from 'Got Talent Global' Instagram]

However, on the 17th, Britain's Got Talent posted a video of the 'Ssaulabi' team's Taekwondo breaking scene on the 'Got Talent Global' account, introducing them as 'Ssaulabi from Japan,' and as of the afternoon of the 24th, this phrase has not been corrected. While other videos typically receive 10 to 20 comments on average, this video has garnered over 2,400 comments.

Netizens both in Korea and abroad have repeatedly pointed out in Korean and English that the team members are Korean, not Japanese, and that Taekwondo is a traditional Korean martial art. They have also criticized the description referring to Taekwondo as 'Martial Arts' and requested that it be labeled as 'Taekwondo.' The participating team 'Ssaulabi' even directly stated, "We are the Korean team. What we do is Korean Taekwondo." Nevertheless, the Got Talent side has not corrected the misinformation.

On the 24th, Professor Seokyung Deok of Sungshin Women's University said, "After verifying through numerous reports from netizens, it was confirmed that an absurd error was made by introducing the Taekwondo demonstration team as 'Japan.' Currently, this video has about 7.5 million views and approximately 600,000 likes, making it very popular, so it must be corrected to prevent misunderstanding among global netizens." Professor Seokyung also commented on 'Ssaulabi's' audition participation, saying, "It was a great opportunity to widely promote the excellence and value of Taekwondo worldwide, but the error in the country designation leaves a big disappointment." He added, "Many netizens at home and abroad are requesting corrections through comments and DMs (direct messages), but since the Got Talent online side seems to be ignoring this, we plan to file a complaint with the production company soon."

First aired in 2007, Britain's Got Talent is a global audition program that has produced stars such as Susan Boyle and Paul Potts.